Catch Me
by gold-stars-xx
Summary: *spoilers for s4 ep 8* Set post-sectionals. How do you start to mend a broken girl? Ryder helps Marley pick up the pieces. Ryley pairing. Rating is for tw: eating disorder
1. Piece 1 - The 5 W's

**A/N starting a new multi-chapter Marley fic because I needed an outlet for my feels after the sectionals ep! It will be Ryley pairing with a few friendships thrown in. I hope you enjoy it and if you could send me feedback through a review that would be really handy as I'm always wanting to improve and grow as a writer. Thanks!**

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Marley's eyes slowly opened, peering around the room she was in. It had white painted walls and she could hear a steady beeping noise. She looked over and saw Ryder asleep in a chair next to the bed she was lying on with his hand holding hers. It looked like he'd been there a while, a glance over at the window told her that it was early in the morning so he must have been there overnight. Marley struggled to try and make sense of what was happening and where exactly she was. Just then, a nurse made eye contact with her through the door and smiled breifly before walking to get someone. It was then that Marley realised where she was. She was in hospital.

A man in a long white coat with a stethescope around his neck walked into the room, along with the nurse that Marley saw earlier. He swiftly removed the ventilator from her mouth which made her feel more comfortable and encouraged her to breathe normally.

"Ah, Miss Rose, nice to see you awake" he said to her "I'm just going to run a couple of simple tests, to check some things okay?"

Marley simply nodded, her hands twitched as her body became more awake which in turn woke up Ryder. He gave her a bright, sincere smile and squeezed her hand comfortingly.

"Hey Marls...I'm so happy to see you awake" he said softly, pressing a kiss to her hand. He let the doctor check Marley over, letting the nurse take him to one side to explain a few things. Marley frowned at the loss of contact but he signalled that he would be back over in a minute and blew her a kiss which made a small smile appear on her face. Marley stayed still as the doctor examined her, he checked her heart with the stethoscope before checking her breathing. He motioned Ryder to come back over, watching as he sat down on the chair again before looking at them both.

"Everything seems to be in order Miss Rose, which is good. You're a lucky girl, there's little lasting damage considering what happened. I'm sure your male companion here can fill you in on the details. The nurse will look after you from now until you are fit to go home"

Marley looked over to Ryder, who was holding in a laugh at 'male companion'. She offered him a small smile, waiting until the doctor had gone before smiling with him.

"You're amazing, my female companion" he told her, giving her a kiss on the cheek before taking her hand again. He face fell more serious as Marley's did, he knew what question she was going to ask.

"R..Ryder...what happened?" She asked softly, her voice was crackly and sore which made him feel sad.

"You...you fainted because you had been starving yourself. You fell into a coma over a week ago Marls" Ryder said softly, keeping hold of her hand he did his best to keep his emotions in check "You've always had either me or your mom by your side. She took her holiday week from work, and I've here all the time that I haven't been at school"

"You scared everyone, even Kitty believe it or not. She came clean about her part in making you starve yourself. She got kicked out of the Cheerios and out of Glee, she just wanders around school looking depressed now but it's nothing compared to what you're going through" Ryder told Marley, studying the girl's face for a reaction.

Marley took a few moments to process everything, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. Ryder carefully got up onto the bed, minding any wires connected to the girl before just holding her in his arms. He rubbed her back gently and kissed her cheek again, feeling her calm down and relax in his arms he turned to face her.

"I love you, Marley Rose. You're going to get through this, and I'll do all I can to help you okay?" He told her.

"I love you...thank you.." She replied, kissing his lips when he smiled her eyes began to falter "I feel tired..."

"Don't worry, it's just because you're feeling weak. Get some rest babe" Ryder told her, smiling at her and giving her one last kiss before she peacefully fell asleep in his arms.


	2. Piece 2 - Forgiveness

**A/N thank you for all the reviews, alerts and favourites for the first chapter. Sorry this took so long to write, it's a little shorter but the main focus is some Karley friendship. Hope you enjoy it!**

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Later on in the day, Marley awoke to the sound of someone coming in. She realised it was the nurse, giving her a small smile. She looked around the room, wondering where Ryder was.

"He'll be back soon sweetheart, he went to talk your visitors in the waiting room" the nurse told her. Marley assumed that Ryder had let the glee club know and that they were here to see her, after all they were the only plural visitors she had expected to arrive. The nurse checked her heart and breathing like the doctor had before getting out a bag of nutrients.

"We had to insert a feeding tube into your stomach to allow us to feed you, we'll continue with that until you've had a chat with the nutritionist and we feel you're ready" the nurse explained. Marley simply nodded, food was the last thing she wanted to think about right now but she knew she would have to face her fear soon. She laid still as the nurse fed her, hearing the door she looked over and smiled at Ryder who was walking over to the bed.

"Hey Marls, I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up. The glee club have come to see you, they're in the waiting room" Ryder said, walking over he took her hand "Kitty is here too...I don't know why, I tried to get her to leave...they're giving her a hard time out there"

"Let her come in." Marley said, which shocked Ryder slightly.

"Y..you want her to come in?" he asked, sighing when the girl nodded "Okay, but I'm not leaving the room"

"Please, I need to speak to her privately" Marley said, listening to Ryder's concerns she offered a solution "How about you stand outside the door so you can hear the talking?"

He eventually agreed and went to get Kitty. Marley looked up when the girl entered the room, she looked so much different than Marley had ever seen her - vulnerable, scared, alone...all the things Marley herself felt.

"Why did you want to see me? Did you want to see me so down and insult me like everyone else?" Kitty asked angrily, however Marley saw that the power had gone from her voice and that fiery look in her eyes was no longer.

"No, I wanted to say...I forgive you, the seeds were already there you just watered them and gave me ideas to make them grow" Marley said, noting the shocked look on the blonde's face she reached for her hand "For the record, I don't agree with what's happening to you. You don't deserve it"

"I never hated you..." Kitty admitted, doing her best to hold back the tears "I felt like I had to prove myself"

Marley simply held her arms out, allowing the girl to hug her. Kitty was careful to avoid hurting her, letting a few tears fall.

"Im sorry" Kitty said. Marley just nodded, inside she was glad that Kitty had apologized and was still a little wary of the girl but in a sense seeing her had given Marley some closure which she was grateful for. Marley could see Ryder still hovering outside the door, turning to Kitty she was thinking of what to say when he came in.

"umm...sorry for like, interrupting, but there's not long visiting hours left and everyone else wants to see you Marls" Ryder told them. Marley nodded, saying goodbye to Kitty.

"Was she okay with you?" Ryder asked, holding Marley's hand and smiling when the girl replied "yes"


	3. Piece 3 - Reflection

**A/N Thanks for all the feedback, alerts and favourites so far! I'm sorry the chapters are a bit short but the next is going to be longer. For now please enjoy this flashback chapter, which is set a week before the first chapter on the day after sectionals.**

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Ryder walked into school with a sigh. Yesterday had been the hardest day of his life. As soon as Marley fainted, he had run over to her and checked her pulse. He felt slightly relived when he could feel it okay, calling out to someone to get an ambulance. He had stuck with Marley the whole way, from the stage to the ambulance to the hospital. Her mom was currently with her, Ryder hadn't wanted to go to school but Mrs Rose encouraged him to and promised he would be informed if anything happened with Marley. The girl was currently lying motionless in a coma; it had hurt him so much to see her lying there and he simply wished that she would wake up sooner rather than later.

Ryder was shaken from his thoughts by Finn calling his name; looking over to the older boy he gave him a smile.

"Emergency Glee club meeting, don't worry about class I've got you all passes" Finn told him, Ryder nodded and followed him to the choir room. Everyone was already there and Ryder could feel their stares as he walked in, no doubt because they wanted to hear about Marley.

"Ryder….how is she?" Brittany asked as she walked up to him, patting his arm. Ryder smiled softly, he had always liked Brittany. She was a sweet girl and seemed to get on well with Marley; it was obvious Brittany was the sort of person who really cared about everyone especially those in glee club.

"She's….not good, she's in a coma Britt" Ryder said with a sad smile, looking over to Sam when the boy walked up and put an arm around Brittany who was looking teary.

"Is a coma like an outfit?" Brittany asked, looking to Sam as he softly explained to her she started crying. Ryder was going to comfort her but decided to leave her with Sam as the boy had pulled her into a hug and seemed to know what to say to calm her.

"What are her chances?" another voice piped up. Ryder looked around, noticing it was Unique.

"Doctors won't say, it all depends how long she's in the coma" Ryder said.

"Look guys, I thought maybe we could come up with a song. Y'know, for Marley. It's kinda what we're best at" Finn said, ushering Ryder to sit down along with Brittany and Sam.

"Look, we shouldn't be helping Marley" Kitty piped up "That sicky vicky decided to ruin our chances by fainting, and we're supposed to be helping her? She should be punished if anything"

"Says the girl who got her into this mess in the first place!" Ryder shouted, looking back to face Kitty. Everyone gasped, usually Ryder wouldn't get so angry but Kitty's comment just made him see red and he felt the need to fiercely defend Marley.

"Yeah, it was you. You introduced to this, you gave her the laxatives, you ultimately caused her to starve herself!" Ryder shouted angrily. Finn walked up to him, trying to get him to calm down before turning to Kitty.

"Kitty, is this true?" he asked. The girl could only nodded, and he wiped his forehead in frustration before looking back to her.

"You're out of this club" he told her.

"Fine, I don't wanna be here with a bunch of losers" Kitty said, looking around at everyone in the room before storming off. She tried to keep up her angry look but inside she was hurt. She had actually started to enjoy being in the club but no that had been taken from her, all because she was stupid enough to do what she did because she thought it would help her gain popularity and respect.


End file.
